Listen, O Israel!
The Lord is our God,
the Lord alone.

Oh, well, I’m not Israel, so I’m good.

Hold up a minute. Romans 11:17 says Believers in Jesus have been grafted into Israel, so, these words written by Moses apply.

Now on to what they say:

LISTEN
God declares this to be important enough to call you to listen, to pay attention.

THE LORD IS OUR GOD
Adonai is our God, a declaration to all who could hear that Almighty God IS the only God.

THE LORD ALONE
Other translations show “the Lord is one” “Yahweh is unique” “the only Lord” “the only God.” The gist being, there is one God and Adonai is Him. The one and only. The one true God.

So what does that mean to us right here, right now? Where’s the timeless and practical truth?

Sh’ma is the word translated as “hear.” In the Jewish faith, this verse through verse nine make up the Shema, used daily as part of the morning and evening prayers. It’s considered very important to the Jews, this recitation of these words.

Practically speaking, when we make this same declaration, our perspective changes. We are able to drop our mask of perfection and our illusions of being in control. We remember that God alone is God and we can’t climb up to the throne and nudge Him off.

When we remind ourselves by speaking these words into the atmosphere that God is the only God, we can easily choose to HEAR what He says, not just skim over the words.

Maybe we should take on the habit of reciting these words morning and evening, too. Maybe by doing so, our focus will be changed … corrected. Maybe we’ll start to hear and listen and obey.

Ready?
Listen, O Israel!
The Lord is our God,
the Lord alone.

#LifeChange

Coffee, Bible, Journal.